


Le Téléphone Arabe

by carolinecrane



Category: Veritas: The Quest
Genre: M/M, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-21
Updated: 2008-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-14 18:30:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4575198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team figures out Nikko and Calvin one by one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Le Téléphone Arabe

Juliet noticed first. It took her a while, but when they both stopped vying for her attention on long flights overseas and started sitting side by side, not talking at all, she wondered why she didn't notice earlier. 

She knew better than to take Nikko's flirting seriously, of course, and even when Cal tried to get her attention it was more about embarrassing Nikko than it was about Juliet. She used to wonder if she should be offended by that, but now...well, it seemed sort of harmless. 

It made traveling a lot quieter, though, and every once in a while she missed the way Cal and Nikko used to bicker. And okay, she missed the attention a little too. Back when Nikko first joined them she'd been in charge of keeping him out of trouble, but he'd long since outgrown the need for a tutor. And she was grateful for that, in a way, because it meant she could focus on archaeology and not worry about Solomon seeing her as a glorified babysitter. But it also meant Nikko didn't need her anymore, and she was surprised by how much quieter her life had gotten.

It wasn't that Cal and Nikko never argued anymore. They fought all the time, about Nikko's recklessness or who was smarter or even what kind of takeout to order during all-nighters. But there was a shorthand between them now -- words that sounded just like English, but meant something just a little different. Kind of like they were picking up in the middle of a conversation they'd started hours ago, when there was no one else around to hear the beginning.

But the biggest difference was the fact that Nikko never tried to drag anyone else into it anymore. He didn't need an audience, because he had Cal. It was sweet, really. She just wished it wasn't so quiet.

~

Maggie tried not to notice. Not because the idea bothered her -- she wasn't even all that surprised -- but because she knew they were going to have a hard enough time when Solomon finally noticed, and she didn't want to draw any attention to the situation if she could help it. She wasn't sure _how_ Solomon would react, but considering how he reacted to everything Nikko did, she couldn't imagine it would be good. He'd probably make a lot of noise about workplace romances and how much danger they were putting the team in by distracting themselves with...well, with each other. But the truth would probably be closer to Solomon not liking the idea of his only child finally growing up.

If he could see it that way he might realize that it was a good thing, that it meant Nikko was finally mature enough to make a commitment to something besides the best way to annoy his father. But this was Solomon's only son -- his _son_ \-- and she was pretty sure Solomon hadn't envisioned a future for Nikko that didn't involve a wife and maybe a couple kids of his own.

He might surprise her. She told herself that whenever Nikko did something a little too obvious in front of him, like resting his hand on the small of Cal's back for a little too long, or gazing a little too fondly across the table when everyone was distracted by whatever puzzle they were trying to solve. She didn't think Solomon had noticed, but maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit. It could be that he'd already figured it out, and he was just glad Nikko had finally chosen someone who could keep up with him.

She told herself that, but she never believed it.

~

When Solomon did find out, it was because Vincent pointed it out to him. And really, Solomon would have been just fine with blissful ignorance, at least where his son's -- his apparently _gay_ son, as if that made any sense -- love life was concerned. Things were going fine, the team was working...well, like a team, and they were getting closer than they'd ever been to discovering the truth. 

He told himself at the time that it was the sense of urgency that made Nikko grow up and start focusing. Finally he saw that there was something bigger than his ego, that this mystery needed solving not just because it was there, but because the future of humanity hinged on it. He really should have known better.

And maybe it was his own fault for bragging about the influence he'd had on Nikko. He knew better than to pat himself on the back in front of Vincent -- there was no one he'd rather have next to him in a fight, but there was also no one who was better at cutting through bullshit than Vincent Siminou. So he probably shouldn't have been surprised when he congratulated himself on his influence over his own son, and Vincent said, "I believe Calvin deserves the credit for most of Nikko's change of attitude."

Still, it was his own fault for asking Vincent what in the hell he meant by that.

It was also thanks to Vincent that Solomon didn't fire Calvin that very night. Not that he wanted to lose one of his team -- especially not now that they _were_ working so well together -- but at the time it seemed like the only way to get the image of Calvin and his son out of his head was to get rid of Cal. He was halfway to the door to do exactly that when Vincent cleared his throat, and when Solomon looked back at him he just glanced at the clock and said, "It's 10:30 at night. Do you really want to go find out what Calvin's doing right now?"

So he waited until morning, and when he walked into the dining room to find Calvin and Nikko laughing over some private joke and looking...well, _happy_ , he couldn't do it. Okay, he probably could have, except that Nikko looked up at him and grinned and just for a second he looked exactly like Haley. Kind of like she was there, telling Solomon that this was what Nikko wanted, and he should keep his hang-ups to himself and let their son be happy. 

Solomon knew when he was defeated. That didn't mean he had to like it, though.

~

It turned out that Vincent had known all along. Not because Nikko had confessed to him during one of their meditation sessions, although in retrospect he might as well have. 

Cal and Nikko were the last to know that everyone else knew, and they wasted a lot of time trying to keep things quiet before Vincent finally took pity on them and let them in on the secret. Nikko could tell he enjoyed breaking the news to them, that he got a kick out of watching Calvin looking like he wished the floor would open up and swallow him. And okay, Nikko got a kick out of that too, especially when the tips of his ears went all pink the way they did when Nikko did this one thing with his tongue. But Nikko had always liked looking at Cal; Vincent, on the other hand, was just sadistic. 

Nikko asked him later exactly how he'd known, and Vincent made some infuriating, nonsensical speech about finding silence or something. The nearest Nikko could figure, it boiled down to the fact that he finally managed to clear his mind long enough to focus. Vincent had been accusing him for a long time of letting himself get distracted; at the time Nikko thought Vincent was just as clueless as his father, but after Cal...well, it was a lot easier to concentrate now. So maybe he had been distracted by all the stuff going on in his head, not that he was going to admit that to Vincent. And there was still plenty going on in his head, but it all seemed less important now that he had Calvin.

Not that they sat around and talked about their feelings all the time. There were plenty of better ways to spend what little free time they did have, and they still hadn't exhausted the possibilities. But it turned out that Calvin really was as smart as he claimed to be, and he'd spent enough time watching Nikko and Solomon to offer some insight into why they couldn't seem to get along. So Nikko had been trying not to second-guess his dad so much, and in return Solomon had started giving him a little more space. Calvin still liked to point out how right he'd been, and even though Nikko usually rolled his eyes and threw a pillow at him, he didn't really mind. The fact was, he liked the way his life was going now, and he didn't mind letting Calvin be right once in a while.

~

When Vincent told them that Solomon already knew about them, Calvin panicked. It only lasted a few seconds before he realized that Solomon already knew and he hadn't been fired, so chances were that he wouldn't be. At least not for sleeping with the boss' son; there was always a chance that Solomon would come up with another reason to kick him off the team. But that didn't happen, and after a couple weeks Calvin finally started to relax enough to enjoy the fact that Nikko could touch him in front of other people without worrying about who might notice.

Not that they were into PDA or anything. He wasn't planning to make out with Nikko in front of the rest of the team, but it was nice to be able to sit together at the back of the plane and not worry about what the others might think. It was nice that Nikko could fall asleep with his head on Calvin's shoulder and Calvin didn't have to shake him off and pretend to be annoyed. It was just...nice, and he definitely hadn't expected that. 

He'd wasted a lot of time trying to talk himself out of a relationship with Nikko, and sometimes he still wasn't sure it was the smartest idea he'd ever had. Usually he started to wonder when Nikko turned on the charm for some girl in a foreign country, but it only lasted long enough for Nikko to get whatever information they needed, and he always went home with Calvin at the end of the day.

He wasn't sure when he started thinking of Nikko as home. For a long time Veritas had just been a job, and when it started to be more than that...well, okay, he freaked out a little. He wasn't proud of it, but the fact that he hadn't bolted when he had the chance meant something. And if he had cut and run after Sophie died, he would have missed out on Nikko. Not that he'd ever expected to fall in love with the boss' son. He'd fought hard not to, and he'd almost run out on his entire career so he wouldn't have to deal with the way he felt. 

So it turned out that _Calvin_ was the last to know, in a way, but he'd gotten there eventually, and that was the important thing.


End file.
